The End of the line station for the Irony 3 Novel Train. To those who have decided to peripherally monitor this train to see of it goes off the rails, I feel obligated to inform you that I am not a same time every day writer. It comes when it comes and the schedule allows. I would love to be a same time every day AM writer. Alas, there are days when I am a PM writer, and even late night writer. (In fact, that is most days) Happy Scribing.

﻿June 6-8 / Days 217-219 – 1728 Words – The End﻿

Hallelujah! Praise The Lord! Amen! The first draft of Irony, Book 3 - Fare is Fair, as of 8PM on 6/8/2015, the third writing day of week 32, is now and forever officially complete. What does that mean? It means the Irony 3 or Bust Novel train has reached its destination of The End. It means that after 219 days of creative fiction writing, I can put my brain away for a little rest. It means that the Irony 3 or Bust Novel Train has finally reached its destination of The End.“You said that already.”You bet your sweet red typeface I did. And it sounded so nice, I said it twice.“Are you going to say it again?”Just watch me. After seven plus months, two hundred and nineteen days, thirty two weeks of updates, umpteen hours on the rails, over 113,000 words, 52,000 blog update words, oh, and putting up with your obnoxiousness, the Irony 3 Novel Train has finally pulled into The End station! Boo-yah, ba-by!“Fine, fine, what’s next?”Next? Who cares. Right now, I am going to revel a bit in a completed manuscript.“Truth be told, it is not complete. There’s the rewrite, and then the re-rewrite, and then the re-re-rewrite, and then formatting--”

Look, Captain Buzzkill, you think about what you want. As for me, I am going to be happy that the Irony 3 or Bust Novel Train didn’t go bust. And to the readers of these updates, I say thank you for riding along. Your company on this trip has been greatly appreciated. If I had only Red Guy to keep me company, I don’t know if I would have made it to The End.“And if I had a long neck and spots, I’d be a giraffe. What’s your point?”My point is that--“Let me guess, that the Irony 3 Novel Train has reached its destination of The End.”Are there any sweeter words in the English language right now?“Alright, so you are happy you finished the book. We get it. Are you feeling anything else?”Yes, but I expected it, so I am not buying in.“Buying into what?”That feeling we authors sometimes get after completing a book, and the questions that come with it. I admit, there is a sort of sadness beneath the feeling of triumph.“Sadness? Why?"I suppose it is the feeling of loss. For over seven months, I was heavily invested in this process. I lived with the characters, ate with them, slept with them. They were alive in my head, their emotions, hopes, dreams, let downs and the like. They were living their lives and things were happening to them and I was there with them every step of the way. And now, now I suppose it is over.

“You can always create new stories and new characters.”Yeah, maybe, but Reg, Carol, Reuben, Kris, Carmen, Captain Freeman, and even the villains were my friends, are my friends, and now I have to say goodbye to them.“Well, then, write Irony 4 and bring them back. What’s so hard about that?”What so hard about writing a novel? Pffft, a lot, but that’s not the point. Even if I did that, this chapter of the story is over and there is sort of a finality to it. Besides that, I am thinking maybe it is time to move on from Detective Reginald Thomas Williams. I am not definite on it, because I have still have ideas, but we will see.

So, yes, I am jumping for joy that the book is finished, but a little sad too. Mostly, jumping for joy, though. As for these updates moving forward, I will drop in a line now and then during the rewrite. You can click the facebook/twitter icons on the side of the page to follow me for those posts. Or, you can just drop by here when you feel like it to check. Also, there is the Poetic Shroud tab at the top of the page. I call it poetry, but most of it is not your standard prose. There are stories and the like clumped in as well.

Wow, I can hardly believe it. The Irony 3 or Bust Novel Train actually made it to The End. Who knew? Come on guys, admit it, some of you clicked here at times expecting a wreck. Well, I am happy to say, it was my pleasure to disappoint you.“Just because you finished the book, doesn’t mean this whole fiasco wasn’t a wreck.”Maybe, but then that means everybody got something, doesn’t it?“I got nothing.”You got nothing--? Hey, let’s not go there again. Well, folks, thanks again for coming along for the ride. Don’t forget to like my facebook page, follow me on twitter, and check back often for new Poetic Shroud & Shroud Shorts entries. Happy writing. Feel free to see Contact page for calendar blurbs, and Home page progress meter for final count and mood.

And, since it is both the beginning and end of a writing week, the last writing week, I ask you all to dance in the streets with me, partying All Night Long with Lionel Richie.